ICYMI for November 21

Hello again, newshounds. I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. I’m a sucker for good old-fashioned jellied cranberry sauce like my mom used to can.

Black Friday Sales Aren’t Just for Black Friday

So if there ever was a proper definition for madness (besides the one supplied in the dictionary), this would be it: some retailers are having their Black Friday sales early. Crazy, right? Below is a list of retailers who have succumbed to the sweet, sweet song of insanity:

G4, that lovable channel that replaced the mighty TechTV and aired quality programming aimed at gamers, is shutting down…for real this time. NBC Universal planned to rebrand G4 as the Esquire Channel back in 2013, but decided against it. Expect G4 to take its final bow at the end of this month.

Opening in 2020, Paramount London will feature a Star Trek-themed area, where I personally hope they will have the old Star Trek Experience from Vegas. There’s no further word on what Trekkies can expect, but the resort itself will feature other themed areas spread out over 800 acres on the Swanscombe Peninsula.

Jester King is set to debut a new collaboration with Austin’s Franklin Barbecue. Figlet is a farmhouse ale brewed with dark malt and figs that were first carmelized then smoked. You can get figgy with it at Jester King’s tasting room starting at 4pm today, when glasses and a limited supply of 750ml bottles will be available.

I heard recently that the vast majority of Steam Early Access games haven’t even progressed beyond the beta stage. Well, Valve is looking to change that. The Home of Half-Life distributed an updated set of rules that, among other things, suggest developers meet customers’ expectations and not rely too heavily on the future. The link above has another link for the rules on Pastebin, in case you’re not a Steamworks developer.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection, only a week old, has received a patch to improve matchmaking reliability. In addition to matchmaking improvements, players can also expect changes to the UI, tweaked achievement earning, and more consistent player damage. The patch is rolling out now, so if you haven’t seen the patch yet, just wait a bit.